Survey Data

Reg No

50030115


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Artistic, Technical


Original Use

Building misc


Date

1890 - 1905


Coordinates

320552, 235776


Date Recorded

05/12/2014


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Freestanding finial-topped cast-iron transformer, c.1900, on a circular plan on repointed cut-granite plinth. Road fronted on a corner site.

Appraisal

An eye-catching transformer installed by the Dublin United Tramways Company (DUTC) when the tram service between Dollymount and Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street, horse-drawn from its inception in 1880, was converted to electricity on the 19th March 1899. The crisp castings include the Dublin City arms and motto ("OBEDIENTIA CIVIUM URBIS FELICITAS") but, unusually, exclude the name of the foundry who supplied the transformer: similar cylindrical transformers in England carry the name of The British Electric Transformer Company (established 1903) of Hayes in Middlesex.